Gulf monarchies pulled into Yemeni civil war

Rebels backed by Iran claim to have carried out longstanding threats to hit the tourist and business hubs of the United Arab Emirates.

Displaced Yemeni children ride donkeys to fill their jerrycans with water in the northern Hajjah province. Picture: AFP

Yemeni rebels backed by Iran claimed to have carried out longstanding threats to hit the tourist and business hubs of the United Arab Emirates after drone strikes on oil facilities and the airport in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

Two Indian workers and one from Pakistan were reported to have been killed. Six more people were injured.

The strikes, if they are confirmed as coming from Yemen’s Houthi rebels, mark a significant escalation in the country’s civil war and in the wider conflict ­between the Sunni Gulf monarchies on the one hand and Iran and its favoured Shia militias on the other. Iraqi Shia militias have also been threatening the UAE.

Targeting Abu Dhabi, and particularly Dubai, with their close ties to Western governments, ­millions of expatriate workers and hundreds of thousands of tourists, has always been regarded as a red line in the conflict.

Three oil tanker trucks were hit in the main blast about 1pm (8pm AEDT) at an oil storage ­facility in the Musaffah district, 21km from Abu Dhabi city. A smaller blast hit a construction area for the extension of Abu Dhabi airport.

The Abu Dhabi authorities said debris found nearby suggested the blast was caused by “small flying objects”, possibly drones.

Police said the strike was near storage tanks belonging to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, but added that there was little damage.

The attacks coincided with a statement by Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are fighting against UAE-backed government forces, that they would announce a new military campaign against the Gulf country.

Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military spokesman, said there would be “an important statement for the armed forces to ­announce a significant military operation in the UAE”.

The UAE joined Saudi Arabia in launching a rescue mission for the UN-recognised government in Yemen in 2015, sending troops to drive back the Houthis who had seized the capital Sanaa and most of the west of the country.

However, it became bogged down after a fractious ­coalition of UAE and Saudi forces, remnants of the Yemeni army, tribal groups, al-Qa’ida militants and a southern Yemen separatist organisation drove the Houthis out of Aden, the second city. Seven years later, the war grinds on and more than 130,000 people have died.

The UAE announced it was withdrawing troops three years ago, but has continued to support the southern separatist movement in Aden as well as a force run by the nephew of late president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who at first ­allied with the Houthis but was then killed by them in 2017.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iran have expressed a willingness to improve relations in the Gulf. UAE’s national security adviser, Sheik Tahnoon bin Zayed al-­Nahyan, meet leading figures in Iran last month.

The Times